


Nouvel Amour

by PhantomSpade



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkwardness, Bisexuality, Feelings Realization, Insecurity, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Minor Injuries, Minor Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Mutual Pining, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 03:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16508186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomSpade/pseuds/PhantomSpade
Summary: Despite getting over his crush on Marinette and gaining a new one on Ladybug (ironically), Nathaniel can't help but feel similar feelings around his new friend Marc.Marc, on the other hand, is having a crisis around his crush...which is Nathaniel himself.





	Nouvel Amour

**Author's Note:**

> Miraculous Ladybug (c) Astruc

Nathaniel was distracted. 

It was a peaceful day at school, and Nathaniel was in the art room along with his friends and classmates. He was sitting at a table, a colored pencil in hand, and staring intensely at his notepad laying in front of him.

The thing was, he has yet to draw anything on paper. Not a rough sketch, not even a single shape or line in sight.

Although, the redhead did begin to move his hand and started to sketch an outline of Ladybug. But he stopped just as he finished at the legs, once again staring at his notepad.

After a few seconds, he started to glance at the door, as if he was expecting someone to come in. The focused look he had on faded into a dazed one, his eyes becoming glassy, hand twirling the pencil absentmindedly. 

Yes, he was indeed distracted. 

Because he was lost in thought, he didn't hear Alix come up to his side and tried to get his attention.

"Yo, Nath! You okay? Nathaniel?" 

Alix leaned over and waved a hand in front his face, but he didn't react to her action, eyes still glued to the door.

Sighing, she took the pencil from his hand and tapped it against his head, which startled him out of his trance. The redhead turned his head to see Alix standing over him, twirling the pencil that was in his hand a minute ago.

"Oh, hey Alix. How long have you been standing there?" Nathaniel asked. 

"Just only for a minute." Alix gave the pencil back to her friend, then took a seat beside him and rested her hand on her cheek. 

"You've been sitting there, staring off into space for like 10 minutes. What's up?" 

Nathaniel blushed and gazed at his unfinished sketch. "I was..just thinking about someone."

Alix gave him a teasing grin. "Let me guess, Ladybug?"

His blush deepened, but he shook his head. "N-No. Well, I mean..." He trailed off, still not looking at her in the eye.

"Come on! Those comics of yours are pretty obvious!" Alix said. 

"Alix, please." Nathaniel groaned lightly, but wasn't feeling discomfort from her teasing. It was good-natured for the most part, and he knew it.

"I was...thinking about Marc. He hasn't come back from the nurse's office yet." He said, his brows knitted in worry.

Earlier, him and Marc were working on their upcoming comic book series. But for some reason, the latter suddenly got a paper cut and hastily asked to go to the nurse's office. Nathaniel was going to escort him, but Marc had already asked Marinette and asked him to just continue working on the comics before he had left with her.

It had been 15 minutes since that happened, so Nathaniel was getting worried. Even Marinette hadn't came back yet. Why was it taking so long to bandage up a simple paper cut, which usually takes less than a second to do so?

"He's been gone for almost 20 minutes. I wanted to go check on him, but he told me not to worry about him and just work on the drawings." Nathaniel said, pointing his eyes to the notepad.

Alix looked at the sketch, then her face scrunched up in bemusement. "Is that supposed to be Ladybug?" 

The redhead raised an eyebrow, confused by her statement. "Uh yeah, what's wrong?" 

Alix pointed at his sketch. "Because that looks like Marc to me." 

Eyes widening, Nathaniel looked at his sketch of what he thought was Ladybug. But it was actually Marc, like Alix said. 

The short hair shaded in smoky black, eyes big and wide, and a smile so shy yet sweet. The person on the paper was definitely Marc.

"Oh..." Once again, Nathainiel was blushing, cheeks pink as Alix's hair. "I guess it is.."

"It's pretty detailed, too. Got his features right." Alix scanned the sketch of Marc for a minute, then she looked at Nathaniel. 

"Didn't you do this kind of drawing when you were crushing on Marinette?" 

Flustered, the redhead quickly snatched up his book and held it against his chest in attempt to hide it from his teasing friend.

"Hey, it's fine, Nath. No one has a problem with your crush." Alix said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Nathaniel side-eyed her, unsure of her words. To him, the boy wasn't really certain about how he felt about Marc. He was a talented writer, but he constantly worried about how everyone would think of his stories. Marc may be shyer than him, but Nathaniel was charmed by his kind and polite demeanor, not to mention that he was a fan of his writing.

It has recently occurred to Nathaniel that he might be harboring...something for Marc. It was similar to how he felt towards Ladybug. His heart started speeding whenever the boy smiled at him, the butterflies in his stomach fluttered at a compliment from him....

Okay, so Nathaniel may had a thing for Marc, like with Ladybug.

"I wouldn't say it's a crush. I'm still figuring out my feelings." Nathaniel said, putting his notepad down back on the table. 

"I mean, Marinette and Ladybug are the only girls I like so far. Marc is...Well, he just gives me the same feelings like the first two." 

"So in other words, Marc is the first boy you like." Alix said in a straightforward manner.

"I-I guess." Nathaniel didn't think that discovering his sexuality would both overwhelming and underwhelming. It was all so new to him, he didn't know what to do.

But seeing that Alix wasn't looking at him with judging eyes, he felt less worried.

"Maybe you should take him out on a date. You know, see what it'll be like." Alix said.

Nathaniel sighed. "I'm not sure about that. He'll accept if we just go as friends, but what if I scare him off if I tell him if it was a romantic one?" 

Nathaniel couldn't really handle the idea of Marc not wanting to be friends anymore. Even if he rejected him but still wanted to stay friends, it would be very awkward between the two boys.

But Alix just flashed him a smile of confidence. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Nath." 

The redhead was puzzled by her statement. "What do you mean?" 

She just patted his back as she stood up and said, "You'll find out if you try it once Marc gets back. Just be more confident in yourself. Could you pass me the blue there?" 

"Sure." Slowly, Nathaniel reached over to a blue spray can and handed it to Alix. The girl thanked him and walked back to her work space, but not before giving him a thumbs up.

The redhead went back to try and focus on his drawing, but his mind was preoccupied with Marc and Alix's advice. 

' _Should I really go for it? Will Marc say yes if I ask?_ '

\---

"There you go, Marc. Just keep this on until it heals, okay?" 

The school nurse gently wrapped a rainbow-colored band-aid around Marc's finger. She had asked him earlier to take his glove off so it would be easy for her to apply it. 

"Y-Yes, thank you..." Marc said in a shy tone. 

Earlier, Marc was just writing stories in the art room with Nathaniel for their comic book series. But since he got distracted by watching his new friend (and secret crush) being so immersed in drawing, he accidentally cut his finger from the page of his notebook. 

Needless to say, Marc was completely embarrassed by it, hence he had asked Marinette to take him to the nurse's office instead of Nathaniel. He felt too ashamed of himself since he humiliated himself in front of the redhead.

This was why he wore gloves, not just for aesthetics, but to prevent getting paper cuts like the one he just got. 

Why did Nathaniel make him flustered so much without meaning to?

"Glad it wasn't anything serious, Marc! So now you can come back to class!" Marinette said, smiling sweetly at him. 

Marc quickly shook his head while looking at her with his head down, not feeling ready to leave. "W-Wait, Marinette! I think I got a-"

But seeing the girl holding her hand out to him with the smile of hers, Marc nearly sighed in defeat and reluctantly took it.

"Here." The nurse handed Marinette a box of colored band-aids. "Take these bandages back with you. I'll get a first-aid kit for the art room tomorrow. Take care." 

"Thanks for your help!" Marinette said, walking out of the office with the raven in tow.

But Marc didn't want to go back just yet. After what happened, he didn't feel ready to face his redheaded crush.

"Wait, Marinette!" He mustered up the loudest he could raised his voice, stopping Marinette in her tracks. She looked at him with a worried expression.

"What's wrong, Marc? Are you not feeling well? If so, I'm sorry for not asking you." 

Marc shook his head. "N-No, it's not that. It's just..." He trailed off, blushing and refusing to say anymore. 

Marinette now looked at him inquistively, making him more nervous. "It's just what?" 

Marc's eyes were on the ground, avoiding hers. The raven was uncertain if he should tell Marinette about his feelings for Nathaniel. While they had gotten long well, they weren't all that close, and Marc was worried that she would tell the redhead. 

But against his better judgement, he decided to confide in the blue-haired girl. 

Seeing that they were the only people in the corridor, Marc said to Marinette in a quiet voice, "Can you keep a secret?" 

"Oh sure. What is it?" Marinette asked. 

Marc took a deep breath, counted the numbers backwards in his head, then told the girl what was on his mind today. 

"I have a crush a Nathaniel..." 

Marc expected a look a shock or to get laughed at. But instead, Marinette smiled widely at him and held back a squeal. 

"You like him? That's so sweet!" She said.

Marc was taken aback, not expecting Marinette to be excited about his crush. 

"You're not weirded out at all?" 

She shook her head at him. "No, not at all! It's totally fine, Marc!"

Marc was speechless, but at the same time, he was a bit relieved. 

"T-That's good. But.." He averted his eyes with a sad look on his face. "I don't think Nathaniel is interested in boys, so I don't have a chance with him." 

Marc feared that Nathaniel wouldn't want to be friends anymore if he found out about his feelings. To him, even if he didn't reciprocate them, his friendship was still important to him and he didn't want to risk it.

Marinette gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know how you feel, Marc. But," She gently put her hands on his shoulders, causing the boy to look back at her.

"You won't know until you try. You're much more important to Nathaniel than you think. It'll be alright. Even if he doesn't feel the same, he'll still want to be your friend." 

Marc didn't say anything to what she said, still looking a bit unsure. 

"Come on. Nathaniel must be pretty worried about you." 

"...Right." 

' _Would Nathaniel still be my friend? Would he really like to date me?_ '

\---

The walk back to the art room didn't take too long for Marinette and Marc, though the latter felt like it took forever. 

As soon as they entered, blue-green eyes from across the room met green. Marc resisted looking away and maintained eye contact despite getting flustered. 

Marinette gave him an encouraging smile before heading back to work on her fashion designs. 

Marc slowly made his way back to Nathaniel and nearly melted when the latter smiled at him.

"Hey Marc. I was getting worried. How's your finger?" 

The raven held up his bandaged finger and waved it a little bit. "It'll be okay. Just gotta be careful." 

The redhead looked relieved. "That's good. Good..."

Soon, the two entered a rather awkward silence as they tried to work on their comics. The whole time, one of them would sneak glances when the other wasn't looking, only to look away when the other noticed. 

Unknownest to both of them, Nathaniel and Marc glanced back at Alix and Marinette respectively, silently asking for help. Both girls just gave them a thumbs up, gesturing them to make a move.

' _Okay, Alix, I'll do it._ '

' _I hope you're right, Marinette._ '

After both boys mentally prepped themselves, they simultaneously turned to each other and tried to start the conversation.

"Hey, Nath-"

"Marc, I want to-"

They stopped when they nearly talked over each other.

"You go first, Marc." Nathaniel said.

But Marc shook his head. "No no! You go first, Nath. What were you going to say?"

' _Here goes nothing..._ '

"Marc..." Nathaniel paused, glancing away for a moment, then willed himself to look at those green eyes he had became fond of.

"After school, would you...like to go to the movies with me? Only if you're free, though!" 

Marc blinked before giving him a small smile. "Sure, what are we seeing?" 

The redhead began to blush. "Nothing special. It's about an artist who falls for a writer..." 

At that, Marc blushed intensely, which made Nathaniel blush even more. "T-That's a...pretty romantic movie." 

The redhead only nodded stiffly, but he smiled with affection at Marc, who returned it with a shy one. 

The atmosphere between them became more normal, but with a sense of romance that was beginning to bloom. Subconsciously, the two scooted closer to each other until their shoulders were touching, neither flinching nor pulling away. 

' _I guess I like to see where Marc and I are heading..._ '

Somewhere in the background, Rose was squealing at the cuteness of the two boys, while Marinette and Alix gave each other high-fives, happy at the development between their two friends.


End file.
